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PIB’S DAILY BULLETIN ON COVID-19

Updates on Covid-19 from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:Actual case load of COVID-19 patients in the country is only 3,31,146; Actual Case Load is about 1/3rd of Total Cases; More than 6.1 lakh Recovered Cases
As on date, the actual caseload of COVID-19 patients in the country is 3,31,146. These contribute to a little more than a third  of total cases detected so far. From mid-June 2020 after crossing the 50% mark in Recovery Rate, there is a steady increase in the recovered patients and decline in the number of active cases. 63.25% of the COVID-19 patients have recovered, so far. Simultaneously, there has been a steady dip in the active cases, from around 45% in mid-June 2020 to around 34.18%, as of now.A total of 20,783 people cured of COVID in the last 24 hours has taken the total number of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients to 6,12,814. The gap between recovered patients and active COVID-19 cases has further increased to 2,81,668. Only two states, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, constitute 48.15% of country’s total active case load. Of the total 36 states and UTs, only 10 States constitute 84.62% of the total active case load.
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1234 labs along with use of Rapid Antigen Tests drive Tests Per Million  to more than 9231
As per the “Test, Trace, Treat” strategy, the Central Government is driving enhanced testing initiatives in State/UTs. As a result, there has been a steady rise in the number of testing labs across the country. The increased testing is in accordance with the ICMR Guidelines and has helped in early detection of cases. All registered medical practitioners can now recommend testing. This coupled with the facilitation of widespread testing by States/UTs through the RT-PCR, TrueNat and CBNAAT lab network has contributed to a surge in the number of samples tested. 3,26,826 samples have been tested in the last 24 hours. The cumulative number of 1,27,39,490 samples tested translated to a figure of 9231.5 testing per million for India. The testing lab network in the country is further strengthened with 1234 labs in the country; 874 labs in the government sector and 360 private labs.
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Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurates RajkumariAmritKaur OPD Block of AIIMS Delhi
Dr. Harsh Vardhan expressed happiness that the new OPD is named after Smt. Raj KumariAmritKaur, renowned freedom fighter and the first Health Minister of the country. Elaborating on the country’s collective efforts against COVID-19, he stated that “gradually we are moving in the direction to win the battle against the pandemic. Less than 2 percent of the COVID affected patients are admitted in ICUs. Our lab network has been strengthened; we have had an exponential growth in the number of labs which have grown from one in Jan 2020 to 1234 today. As on date, we have tested more than 3.26 samples per day”. Dr Harsh Vardhan added that this capacity will be further enhanced to 10 lakh tests per day in the coming 12 weeks.
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Prime Minister to address High-Level Segment of ECOSOC on 17 July, 2020
Prime Minister NarendraModi will deliver a keynote address virtually at this year’s High-Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council session on 17th July 2020 at the United Nations in New York. The annual High-level Segment convenes a diverse group of high-level representatives from the Government, the private sector, civil society and academia. The theme of this year’s High-level Segment is "Multilateralism after COVID19: What kind of UN do we need at the 75th anniversary”.Set against the changing international environment and the COVID-19 pandemic, this session will focus on critical forces shaping the course of multilateralism and explore ways to bolster the global agenda through strong leadership, effective international institutions, a broadening of participation and enhanced significance of global public goods.
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Railways need to collectively focus on increasing the revenue, minimising costs, boosting safety of operations and welfare of existing employees- Shri PiyushGoyal
Ministry of Railways conducted first ever online Workman Sanghosti in which representatives of Railways Worker's Unions participated from across the country. Addressing the Sangosthi, Shri PiyushGoyal expressed the gratitude for Railway workmen for performing duties relentlessly during the lockdown period. The Minister said, “From highest level to the lowest level, all officers and staff have sincerely performed their duties during the lockdown. Presently, Indian Railways is going through critical time due to the pandemic. The Minister urged the leaders of the federations to ponder how Railways can overcome this crisis that is looming across the world due to this pandemic. He also asked Railway federations to come up with unique ideas how Railways revenue can be increased, costs minimised, freight share be improved and how the railways can move further and faster.
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Department of Biotechnology supported COVID 19 Vaccine -ZyCoV-Dbegins Adaptive Phase I/II clinical trials
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council  has announced that ZyCoV-D, the plasmid DNA vaccine designed and developed by Zydus and partially funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India has initiated Phase I/ II clinical trials in healthy subjects, making it the first indigenously developed vaccine for COVID-19 to be administered in humans in India.The adaptive Phase I/II dose escalation, multi-centric study will assess the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the vaccine. Dr. RenuSwarup, Secretary, DBT and Chairperson, BIRAC said Department of Biotechnology has partnered with Zydus to address rapid development of an indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 under the National Biopharma Mission.
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Shri Dharmendra Pradhan invites the US Investors to seize the huge opportunity in India’s growth story
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, along with US Secretary of Energy, HE Dan Brouillette, co-Chaired industry-level interaction, organized by US-India Business Council  yesterday. The Minister had also separately Chaired an industry-level interaction organized by US-India Strategic Energy partnership  on Tuesday. During these interactions, Minister Pradhan invited the US companies and investors to engage and invest in India in new opportunities. Shri Pradhan said that even during these challenging times, India and the US have been working in close collaboration, be it in stabilizing global energy markets or in collaborative efforts to address COVID-19. He said “In today’s turbulent world, one constant is –and always will be –the strength of our bilateral partnership.”
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Centre and states will work together to scale up mobilisation of volunteers to 1crore to help in India’s fight against Covid 19: Shri KirenRijiju
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri KirenRijiju has called upon ministers and senior officers in charge of Youth Affairs and Sports departments from all states and UTs to mobilise a large number of volunteers as part of the Youth Ministry’s flagship schemes, from Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan,National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides. He further asked to intensify India’s fight against Covid 19, as well as to create awareness about Aatmanirbhar Bharat among the lowest strata of the society. The Minister was holding a two-day video conference with all states and UTs to create a collaborative roadmap for sports and youth affairs-related issues. He urged all states to continue with Fit India activities online during Covid and include common people in fitness-related activities.
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RakshaRajya Mantri Shri ShripadNaik inaugurates conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies
RakshaRajya Mantri Shri ShripadNaik has said Indian Defence and Aerospace industry today is on the threshold of transformation, under the several initiatives of Government of India to promote ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ Abhiyaan. Delivering the Inaugural address at the 5th edition of the conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies yesterday, Shri Naik exhorted that the Indian A&D industry has to rise to the occasion to shoulder greater responsibility in making the nation self-reliant in Defence Production and achieve 26 Billion US Dollar domestic production by 2025, which is the stated objective of the Defence Production Policy.He said, “COVID has caused, across the globe, severe economic and social challenges. In our national efforts over the last four months, we have been successful to first create high awareness among our large population, build adequate capacity for testing and providing health care, and manage the rate of spread of virus.”
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TIFAC releases report on ‘Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients- Status, Issues, Technology Readiness and Challenges’
Indigenous production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients  needs to be scaled up to a level where the production is economically viable, says a report which identified a list of APIS that need prioritized manufacturing and the associated advantages.The report titled ‘Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients- Status, Issues, Technology Readiness, and Challenges’ was brought out recently by Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council , an autonomous organization under the Department of Science & Technology.The major recommendations given in the report include focus on engineering and scale aspect of technology development, need for Mission mode Chemical Engineering with defined targets for uninterrupted synthesis of molecules and to create mega drug manufacturing clusters with common infrastructure in India. COVID 19 pandemic has firmly put the focus of our Nation on being "AatmaNirbhar".
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Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Giriraj Singh launches the Implementation Guidelines for Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund
Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Giriraj Singh today launched the Implementation Guidelines for Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund  worth Rs. 15,000 crores, which was approved by the Union Cabinet on 24.06.2020 under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan stimulus package for ensuring growth in several sectors.He also informed that the Dairy Processing Infrastructure Development Fund  is being implemented for infrastructure development in cooperative sector and AHIDF is a first type of scheme for private sector. Millions of farmers will be benefited once the infrastructure is created and more milk will be processed. This will also increase export of dairy products which is presently negligible. India needs to go up to the standards of countries like New Zealand in the Dairy sector. He expressed satisfaction that during Covid-19 lockdown, dairy farmers could maintain steady supply of milk to the consumers in the country.
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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES
- Chandigarh: The Administrator, UT Chandigarh, ordered for a complete ban on physical press conferences, where there is a risk of infection due to large gatherings. He also appealed to all political parties not to hold any gathering or function, which violates the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs which permit only events like wedding and cremation as exceptional cases. Senior Superintendent of Police has been directed to lodge FIRs in case of illegal gathering of any kind in the city.
- Punjab: Amid the growing global importance of social media in battling the Covid crisis, the Punjab Government has decided to expand its social media outreach by setting up 15 expert social media teams on outsourced model. The Chief Minister termed the move as vital for expanding the state’s reach and the strengthening the efforts in disseminating information regarding various aspects related to the novel Coronavirus pandemic in an effective and result-oriented manner. Besides creating awareness among the people about the precautions, norms etc relating to the pandemic, the teams would also help in countering the spread of misinformation by providing credible and updated information to them on a regular basis.
- Haryana: To make people aware about preventive measures to be taken regarding COVID-19 pandemic, Haryana Chief Minister released the Special Joint Issue of monthly magazine 'Harigandha' published by Haryana SahityaAkademi. The Chief Minister outlined the efficacy and significance of this Special Issue of 'Harigandha', in which comprehensive information regarding the global pandemic was also highlighted. He said that through this special issue, people will be able to know about the measures to be taken to prevent corona and other necessary information.
- Himachal Pradesh: The Chief Minister distributed free smart phones to ASHA workers of the State for their effective and smooth functioning and to perform their duties efficiently. He said that the corona pandemic has taken the whole world by surprise and caught the medical fraternity unprepared. He said that Himachal Pradesh has effectively been fighting this virus and ASHA workers of the State have played a pivotal role in controlling this virus. He said that ASHA workers not only helped in detecting the people with ILI symptoms, but have also helped in motivating the people in strictly following the quarantine norms.
- Maharashtra: 7,975 new infections have been reported in the last 24 hours taking the state tally to 2,75,640. However, the active case-load in Maharashtra presently is 1,11,801. The active case load of Mumbai stands at 22,959. The recovery rate in Maharashtra is 55.37%, while the mortality rate is 3.96%. In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in Nashik district, the state government and district administration has initiated a measure "Healthcare service at your doorstep". As many as 556 squads have been formed and they have been tasked to trace the Covid positive patient.
- Gujarat: Gujarat reported 925 COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths on Wednesday. With this, state tally has risen to 44,648 including 31,346 discharges and 2,081 deaths. The state government has revised the testing policy for Covid-19 on Wednesday. According to the new policy, Covid tests can be done on the prescription of any MBBS doctor.
- Rajasthan: 143 new positive cases and 4 deaths have been reported in Rajasthan today morning. On Wednesday, a record 866 persons tested positive in the state. While the state COVID-19 tally has gone up to 26,580, the active case load is 6,459.
- Madhya Pradesh: 638 new positive patients have been detected in the state taking the state tally to 19,643. The active case load is 5,053, while 13,908 patients have recovered. 682 have succumbed to the disease so far.
- Chhattisgarh: 154 new positive cases have been reported in Chhattisgarh. This takes the state COVID-19 tally to 4,556. The active case load of the state stands at 1,212.
- Goa: Goa reported 198 positive cases on Wednesday, which happens to be the single day highest spike of COVID-19 in the state so far. The state tally of coronavirus has shot up to 2,951, while the active case load presently is 1259.
- Kerala: State reported one more Covid death today taking the toll to 36. The deceased youth has been identified as Kannur native. Another man who was under Covid-19 observation in Idukki was found dead today; yet to be confirmed as Covid fatality. Four doctors of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College have tested positive for Covid-19; as precaution almost thirty doctors of the surgery unit have been quarantined and the surgery ward has been closed. To deal with the spurt in Covid cases, which is likely to happen by next month, the first-line treatment centres for the disease in every district would be equipped to ensure a capacity of 5,000 beds. 623 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed yesterday with 450 of them due to local transmission and 37 with no epidemiological link. 4,880 patients are still undergoing treatment and 1,84,601 people under surveillance in various districts.
- Tamil Nadu: Nine-month-old succumbs to Covid-19 in Puducherry as death toll climbs to 22. The Union Territory reported its largest spike till date of 147 cases today taking the Covid tally to 1,743. 40 TN fishermen from Iran land in Chennai;. Coimbatore Collector tests positive for Covid-19. 4496 new cases & 68 deaths reported yesterday. 1291 cases from Chennai. Total cases: 1,51,820; Active cases: 47,340; Deaths: 2167; Active cases in Chennai: 15,606.
- Karnataka: Seven day lockdown entered second day; lockdown being enforced strictly by the police. Medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar Minister urged Covid recovered citizens to come forward and donate their plasma to save others’ lives. Blood donors to receive a reward of Rs.5000 as a token of appreciation, said Dr K Sudhakar. High Court permits State and BBMP for display of Covid awareness hoardings and banners in the city. Meanwhile Private Hospitals and Nursing-Homes Association  said they are working with 30% doctors and 50% nurses and ward boys. 3176 new cases & 87 deaths reported yesterday with 1975 cases in Bangalore city. Total positive cases: 47,253; Active cases: 27,853; Deaths: 928.
- Andhra Pradesh: Implemented as pilot project in West Godavari district from January 3, 2020, CM launches YSR Aarogyasri scheme expansion services to six more districts. The scheme will now be implemented in Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Prakasam, Kadapa and Kurnool districts. State decided to set up village clinics in all panchayats by April next. State distributes Covid-19 kits- containing six masks and two soaps- to beggars in urban areas in Krishna district. Pileru sub jail in Chittoor district converted into Covid-19 prison to house 138 inmates from various jails across the district who have been tested positive for the virus. 2593 new cases, 943 discharged and 40 deaths reported during last 24 hours. Total cases: 38,044; Active cases: 18,159; Deaths: 492.
- Telangana: A Covid isolation block with 100 beds, including 20 at ICU, was opened in Siddipet district of Telangana. 1597 new cases & 11 deaths reported yesterday; 796 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases reported till yesterday: 39,342, Active cases: 12,958, Deaths 386.
- Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal Pradesh Government has approved setting up of a dedicated Covid hospital at the newly constructed MLA Apartments at Chimpu, Itanagar.
- Assam: GirijanandaChowdhury Institute of Pharmaceutical science at Azara will soon serve as COVID-19 care centre with a capacity of atleast 1000 bed tweeted Assam's Health Minister HimantaBiswaSarma.
- Manipur: Thoubal District Women's Development Organisation , Leirongthel Women Development Association and Coalition Against Drugs and Alcohol  conduct an awareness programme on COVID-19 at LeirongthelMayaiLeikai in Thoubal. Manipur Baptist Convention conducts a "One Day Awareness Programme" on COVID-19 awareness at MBC Centre Church, Imphal.
- Mizoram: One recovered COVID19 patient discharged in Mizoram today. Now total cases stands at 167 in the state.
- Nagaland: Nagaland Chief Minister is on self-quarantine after his return from Delhi as a precautionary measure; he will continue to discharge his duties.
- Sikkim: The samples of Sikkim Chief Minister Shri Prem Singh Tamang along with his wife Smt. SardaTamang and son MLA Shri AdityaTamang were collected for COVID19 testing, followed by the security personnel and residential staff. A total of 95 samples have been collected.
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